By Joseph Dubroff
I can feel college basketball in the air. It's not previews on TV (they don't have any on ESPN, which angers
me more than Joe Buck's pompous attitude). It is, however, THE LINE. Here at the University of Pennsylvania, we take our basketball
seriously. Very seriously. Last night, a random location was announced to get wristbands for THE LINE. THE LINE starts next
Friday, at about 7:00PM and continues until 7:00PM next Saturday, when the wristband number determines where your seat will
be. In betwixt these junctures in time, people sip liquor out of water bottles, sleep in the Palestra seats, play basketball
on the legendary floor (we're talking about the MECCA OF COLLEGE BASKETBALL. Part of the reason I wanted to come here.), get
free food, along with trivia contests and appearances by the AD Steve Bilsky, Coach Glen Miller, and some players. Quite the
time. However, I will not be doing it for the next four years due to my involvment with a pregame show on Quest Network (Penn
sports network, and unavailable to people off campus), but I might make an appearance, who knows.
Anyways, college basketball. I love this time of year. And by this time of year, I mean from Midnight Madness
until the first Monday after the first Saturday in April. For some reason, college basketball captures my attention like nothing
else. And this offseason grabbed my attention almost as much as the season will. And with that, let's go to the top four stories
of the summer.
TOP 4:
1.) Good coaching hires with
coming-back-to-bite-you-in-the-ass potential
There were two
of these this year: Kelvin Sampson taking over for Mike Davis at Indiana and Bob Huggins being called on the revitalize the
dormant Kansas State program. Both have some great qualities that make them idiots, but the ultimately win, and that is how
they got hired.
Huggins led the "Bad News" Bearcats of the University of Cincinati from 1989 to
2005, which had its share of players being arrested. Don't forget that the final straw for newly-installed president Nancy
Zimpher was Huggin's getting arrested for DUI in 2005. But, he managed to steal Bobby Lutz's best recruit ever at Charlotte,
the 6-10 swingman Michael Beasley, who was going to be the unanimous preseason freshman of the year in '07-'08.
Sampson came into the position at Indiana under investigation for illegal recruiting
practices at his former employer, Oklahoma University. Sampson received a penalty from the NCAA, and will start his tenure
at IU without the ability to legally call recruits (easily gone around). Even with these restrcitions, Sampson managed to
steal top-3 '07-'08 freshman Eric Gordon from Illinois, who had received a solid verbal from Gordon (this is a no-no in college
basketball). How ironic: Sampson gave a presentation at an NABC (National Association of Basketball Coaches, n00bz0rs) convention
two years ago against cheating. Real classy.
One thing Huggins beats Sampson in with the stealing recruits thing is who he steals from. Lutz managed to get
a commit from the best player in the country to a school in a mid-major conference. Lutz's inability to keep Beasley will
be noticed when Lutz tries to fill a job at a major program, more so than his ability to get Beasley to commit in the first
place.
2.) Duquesne shooting
Four players from the Duquesne Dukes men's basketball squad were shot outside a dance at the Black Student Union.
One player, Sam Ashaolu, cousin of Hakeem Olajuwon, remains unable to play. The other players are ready to come back, but
I'm not sure if the Dukes can take some type of motivation from this incident to create success, judging from their lack of
success in recent years. The Dukes are 11-46 the past two years. They're winning games at a rate of .193 for each played,
which is not very good for that level of basketball. But with a new coach, some new luck could come too. Yeah, I just watched
every Disney movie about an underdog team from the 1960's and 1970's.
3.) No more summer camp!
Nike, Adidas, and Reebok plan to close their summer camps, where many stars have been discovered and/or made
a name for themselves. It seems like the shoe conglomerates have decided to suck up more of the world's money by focusing
more on AAU tournaments, where ticket sales can get them much more revenue. Just like Kelvin Sampson, real classy.
4.) NBA age limit=best freshman class ever?
It's looking like it with the expectations many freshmen are getting. Lute Olson called McDonald's MVP and soon-to-be
Arizona Wildcat Chase Budinger "the best freshman I've had." This is pretty damn good, considering that Olson has lured some
fine recruits in his 24 years in Tucson. Greg Oden is being called the best freshman ever by many recruiting experts (remember,
fellas like Alcindor and Walton and Russell weren't allowed to play as freshmanback in the day, but this is still pretty damn
good). Spencer Hawes basically is making Jon Brockman, last year's prized recruit, disappear from the memories of Washington
Huskies fans since he is that much better than Brockman, who also didn't play that well last year. Syracuse recruit Paul Harris
is considered the most versatile player in the class, with the ability to play point, shooting guard, small forward and even
power forward (strong, great vertical, built like Brian Dawkins, but taller). I could keep going, but I'd prefer to get to
my ALL-AMERICA TEAMS.
First Team All-Americans:
C: Aaron Gray (Pitt): he can swat, he averaged a double-double
last year, and the top of his head is seven feet above the ground. He will have another great year and lead Pitt in "doin'
big things" a la Ryan Quigley.
F: Tyler Hansbrough (UNC): he'll keep producing this
year, and might show his ability in education when the naive Greg Oden shows up with Ohio State at the Dean Dome on November
29 as part of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.
F: Joakim Noah (Florida): Final Four MVP returns to school
for another year=big trouble for the rest of the country.
G/F: Brandon Rush (Kansas): The smartest brother of the
Rush family (see: missed expectations of JaRon Rush and Kareem Rush) will leave after this year (he's already 21, which is
considered old for a sophmore), and the NBA will call (first round, better than second-round Kareem Rush and not-drafted-at-all
JaRon).
G: Ronald Steele ("Alabama!"-Bruno): Best PG in the country,
will put up some nice numbers as well, so call him a sleeper and see what I care.
Honorable Mention (in no particular
order at all): Jared Dudley,F-BC, Al Thornton,F-Florida State, Dominic James,G-Marquette, Josh McRoberts,F-Duke, Jeff
Green,F-Georgetown, JamesOn Curry,G-Oklahoma State, Alando Tucker,F-Wisconsin, Corey Brewer,G/F-Florida, Al Horford,F-Florida,
Taurean Green,G-Florida
Freshman All-Americans:
C: Greg Oden (Ohio State): If you're considered the next David Robinson
by nbadraft.net, I think you are probably pretty damn good.
F: Thaddeus Young (Georgia Tech): If Thaddeus Young were to be featured
on Next and played by a woman, when he first introduces himself to the audience, he would say, "Hey, I'm Thaddeus...my
long-range game is questionable, but baby, there ain't no worries about my midrange game and what I can around the basket!"
F: Kevin Durant (Texas): Basically, he's the next KG but he can pull
up from half-court. I feel like this could end up being the Bo Jackson of basketball video games.
G: Chase Budinger (Arizona): So, Lute Olson has been around for a while,
and he calls you the best freshman he's had, and you also could have played D-1 volleyball, which implies that you have mad
hops. Cool.
G: Tywon Lawson (UNC): He is considered the best of this UNC freshmen
class, and he was right up there with Rajon Rondo in terms of assist numbers at Oak Hill (Rondo once had 60 assists over two
games, and in one of those games had 31. That's pretty big assists numbers.)
Honorable Mention: UConn Freshmen (too good to choose one who sticks
out in this group), Brandan Wright,F-UNC; Mike Conley,G-Ohio State; Daequan Cook,G-Ohio State; Wayne Ellington,G-UNC; Gerald
Henderson,G-Duke; Spencer Hawes,C-Washington(I wish there were six spots on the first team); The Lopez Twins (Robin and Brook),C
and PF, Stanford; Paul Harris,G/F/PF,Syracuse; "Back Then Hoes Didn't Want Me, Now I'm Hot Hoes All On Me" Mike Jones,F, Syracuse.
I seriously wish there were more spots on that first team. Next year I'll make
it a first team as if it was a roster of 12 freshman. That will be exciting. Thank you, NBA age limit. Now, back to the preview
with the SWEET SIXTEEN.
SWEET SIXTEEN (TOP 16 TEAMS-in no particular order):
Duke, Syracuse, Pitt, BC, Florida, Arizona, Georgia Tech, UNC,
Marquette, Ohio State, Kansas, Texas, UConn, Gonzaga, Creighton, LSU
ELITE EIGHT (TOP 8, in no particular order again):
Kansas: The team is ready, and they're also ready to
take revenge after first-round upsets ended their trips to the Dance the past two years. If it is another this year, Bill
Self will not be employed in Lawrence anymore. Unless it is as a janitor.
UNC: Sophmores will be great, but freshmen will get them
deep into the tourney (watch out for the stacked class coming in: Wayne Ellington is a high-flyer who can "j" well; Tywon
Lawson is fast like DSL and can distribute well, meaning he could start immediately; and Brandan Wright is a freak athlete
in the post, which is always nice (look for him to inject energy into the Heels when Hansbrough gets tired with those crazy
modern dunk shots))
Pitt: Aaron Gray and Sam Young will dominate the front
line everywhere, and the backcourt will do what's necessary for a deep tourney run, led by Downstate New York products Ronald
Ramon and Keith Benjamin.
Arizona: Mustafa Shakur will become a 'Zona legend, and
Chase Budinger, Ivan Radenovic, and Jawann McClellan will do more than help.
Florida: The defending champions lost one player, and
he was a little less than 4% of the total offense. That's pretty good.
UConn: A great freshman class that lacks experience,
but Jim Calhoun is the Chuck Norris of coaching basketball, so you'll see a winning a team and a damn fine team at that.
BC: Jared Dudley will dominate, Sean Williams can block
anything (against 'Nova in the tourney, he proved he can grab your wallet off the top of the backboard, just in case you leave
it there or something)
The last team in the Elite Eight has a white point guard and the main color is blue. Surprise, it is NOT Duke.
Creighton: They got the
Funk. Nate Funk. Best team in the best little conference in America.
Final Four: UNC, Florida, Pitt,
Arizona
Final: Florida vs. Pitt
Champion: Pitt Too good
this year. They have been great in recent years, but Ben Howland will regret leaving for Westwood when he sees this team.
Jamie Dixon wins one in in what has been a tough year for him. "THIS ONE'S...FOR MAGGIE!"
Also, I forgot to tell you to watch out for Micah Downs. He'll take over the "I
score a lot" role from Adam Morrison in Spokane. Plus, he's more athletic. Watch out for him. He'll blossom within the next
two years like Joey Lawrence in the early '90's.
